Kokoda Plots 18-Storey Tower for $100m St Kilda Road Site
Kokoda Property Group has agreed to pay more than $100 million for a 6085sq m parkside site at 441 St Kilda Road.
A put and call option agreement with long-term owner Dymocks Properties binds both parties to complete the sale.
Kokoda is planning an 18-storey residential building with wellness-focused amenities and ground-level commercial space for the site fronting Fawkner Park, which is 3km from Melbourne’s CBD.
The site is close to South Yarra, Southbank and the Domain Precinct.
Kokoda Property Group founder and managing director Mark Stevens said returning market confidence in Melbourne had supported the acquisition.
“After a cautious period, buyer sentiment is stabilising and capital is returning to quality, design-led residential projects in prime locations,” Stevens said.
“At the same time, Victoria’s competitive construction market offers a window of opportunity to deliver best-in-class developments without compromising craftsmanship.”
Stevens said the transaction was part of St Kilda Road’s shift from office to high-end residential development.
Preliminary design plans cite New York apartments overlooking Central Park as an inspiration. Proposed features include elevated ceiling heights, enclosed winter gardens, wellness spaces and open kitchen designs.
Melbourne architects Studio McCue is to collaborate with a to-be-announced international architecture firm on the project.
Concept design work would precede planning submissions for the St Kilda Road site.
Dymocks Properties chief executive Cathy Tiberio said the transaction was a major move for the 146-year-old, family-owned company, which has property holdings worth around $400 million.
Kokoda Property Group has a $3.3-billion project pipeline spanning Victoria and Queensland markets.
In Melbourne, the developer recently purchased the Saint Hotel at Fitzroy Street, St Kilda, for $8.4 million in a mortgagee sale. The 1150sq m property would be integrated into Kokoda’s hospitality division, launched in November to operate food and beverage venues across the group’s residential developments.
Kokoda’s first hospitality venue, The Angel of Malvern, is scheduled to open this year as part of Station Place, a retail precinct within the developer’s $450-million Malvern Collective mixed-use development.
The developer is also entering commercial development with plans for a nine-storey office building at 418 Burnley Street, Richmond—Kokoda’s first purely commercial project outside the residential sector.
In Brisbane, Kokoda settled its Teneriffe Banks site in September, paving the way for construction of the luxury riverfront precinct to begin. The $1.5-billion project will feature Queensland’s first Kimpton Hotel in partnership with IHG Hotels & Resorts.
Versatile Construction was appointed builder for the project in December, with construction tipped to be under way this month and staged delivery from 2028.
